Is the LHC safe?

Many people have wondered if running the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (on the boarder of Switzerland and France) is going to cause potentially Earth threatening results (like say a miniature black hole that begins to grow and eventually consumes the world).  Most of the experts have been insisting that the probability of any real danger when the Collider starts smashing particles together later this year is incredibly minuscule and improbable.  Still there are some people who feel the necessity to raise objections.  This article in the New York Times brings up some of the concerns and the people who are involved.  Personally I say, “Let’s get LHC smashing!” because of the potential for great new discoveries.  Then again, I guess every scientific experiment has its degree of risk and it is better to be safe than sorry (or non-existent).

Studying Human DNA and finding some important stuff

The completion of the Human Genome project in in 2003 (though it is actually an on going project of research) opened whole new doors to the scientific community.  Suddenly scientists were able to look at the little bits that make each and every one of us who we are as well as starting to find what makes us sick in different ways.  This article in Time Magazine today talks a bit about what researchers are finding as they look into DNA and human genetics and how it could mean huge advances in science and medicine over the next several years.